Wind rotated attention arresting signal



May 30, 1961 w. PARKER WIND ROTATED ATTENTION ARRESTING SIGNAL 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 25, 1959 May 30, 1961 w. l.. PARKER v2,985,976

WIND ROTATED ATTENTION ARRESTING SIGNAL Filed Nov. 25, 1959 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O WIND ROTATED ATTENTION ARRESTINGSIGNAL Wayne L. Parker, 432 S. Taylor, Pierre, S. Dak.

Filed Nov. 25, 1959, Ser. No. 855,350

1 Claim. (Cl. 411-39) This invention relates to attention arrestingsignals and signs, such as slow and stop signs used on highways, streetor roadway intersecttons, curves or turns, and schools; and inparticular a wind rotatable color rellecting or Scotch lighted ball orwheel used independently or in combination with signs or signals wherebythev attention of an operator of a vehicle is directed by the rotatingball or wheel to a sign or to signs.

The purpose of this invention is to improve conventional road signs byproviding wind rotated elements on or in combination with such signswhereby the attention of a motorist is directed to a sign.

Various types of stationary signs are provided on roadways, atintersections of streets and highways and at other points. However, intraveling over highways and partcularly in traveling the same highwayday after day the stationary signs become fixtures and although thedriver of a motor vehicle is conscious of the presence of a sign thecontents of the sign are soon overlooked. With this thought in mind thisinvention contemplates a rotating element mounted on or in combinationwith a sign whereby the attention of an operator of a motor vehicle isarrested by the rotating element and directed to a sign in combinationwith said rotating element.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide a continuouslymoving element in combination with a road sign whereby the attention ofall motorists traveling on a street or highway is arrested and directedto the sign.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rotatable element for aroad sign in which the element is rotated by, even a very slight wind,thereby obviating the necessity of providing electric power foroperating the element.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a rotatableelement for directing the attention of motorists to a sign in which theelement may be mounted on signs now in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotatable element foruse in combination with signs in which the element is of simple andeconomical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the inventionembodies a ball or wheel having a plurality of vanes in which the vanesare patterned to provide propelling means for rotating the element asair is circulated over the element.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a ball, sphere, or attentionatorof other patterns showing the attentionator mounted on a tubular postwith the lower part of the post broken away.

Figure 2 is a sectional plan through the ball taken on line 2-2 ofFigure l showing the arrangement of the blades therein.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a sign post having a rotatingball on the upper end, the ball being shown in Patented May 30, 1961section and the section being taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view illustrating an attentionator of a differentdesign wherein arcuate blades extend outwardly from a hub.

Figure 5 is a vertical section through the attentionator shown in Figure4 being taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4 and in which the post is shown inelevation.

Figure 6 is an elevational view showing a typical application of a Windrotating element to a conventional stop sign.

Figure 7 is an elevational view showing a typical application of windrotated blades, as shown in Figure 4, to a railroad warning sign.

Figure 8 is a view showing a typical application of the wind rotatedsphere to a commercial sign, such as a barbers pole.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts the improved wind rotatable attention arrester ofthis invention includes a plurality of scoop-like blades 10, the upperends of which are secured by rivets-,11 to a disc 12 and the lower endsof which are secured to a flange 13 of a collar 14 by rivets 15, asillustrated in Figure 3. The disc 12 is retained on the upper end of ashaft 16 by a bolt 17 and a lock washer 18. The shaft 16 is rotatablymounted in a sleeve v19 on a post 20 and the sleeve 19 is secured to thepost 20 by a bolt 21. A ball 22 is positioned in a recess 23 in theupper end of the post 20 and the upper portion of the ball extends intoa recess 24 in the lower end of the shaft 16. The lower end of the post20 is provided with a flange 25 that is positioned on a base 26 and thebase may be secured to a foundation 27 by bolts 28.

The sleeve 19 may be provided with armsbr vanes 29 upon which signs,such as slow, stop, or school may be placed. Inner surfaces of the scopelike vanes or blades may be coated with Scotch light or a suitablereflecting coating, as indicated by the numeral 30 and the reflectingcoating may be of any suitable color.

In the design illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 arcuate vanes 31 extendradially from a sleeve 32 and the sleeve is positioned over the upperend of a shaft 33 rotatably mounted on a post 34 by a sleeve 35. Thesleeve 32 is provided with a closed upper end 36 and the sleeve isretained in position on the shaft 33 by a screw 37 extended through theend 36 and threaded in a socket 38 in the upper end of the shaft. Thelower end of the sleeve 32 is provided with a ange 39.

'I'he shaft 33 is provided with an annular groove 40 into which theshank of a screw 41, threaded in the sleeve 35, extends, therebypreventing accidental removal of the shaft 33 and vanes 31 from the post34. The lower end of the shaft 33 is provided with a conical shaped tip42 that is positioned in a similarly shaped recess 43 in the upper endof the post 34. By this means a mounting is provided whereby blades orvanes with bars 44 and 445 of reflecting material may be placed on thevanes or the vanes may be used in combination with blades 46 with theword stop, slow, or the like thereon.

In the design illustrated in Figure 6 a sphere or ball 47 having blades48 with reliecting coatings thereon, is rotatably mounted on the upperend of a sleeve 49 of a post 50 and the ball is positioned incombination with plates 51 and 52 on which the word stop, as indicatedby the numeral 53 may be positioned. The post 50 is similar to the post20 of the design shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

In the design shown in Figure 7 vanes or blades 54, similar to the vanesshown in Figures 4 and 5, are mounted on a sleeve 55 secured on theupper end of a post 56 by a set-screw 57. In this design the vanes orblades extend from a cylinder or casing 58 by which the 3 blades aremounted on the sleeve 55 whereby a sign is provided in the center andbetween rotating blades.

In the design illustrated in Figure 8 a ball 59, similar to the sphereillustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 is provided on the upper end of a pole60 and the pole 60 may beV rotated by the ball 59 or by a train of gears61 in a support 62 from which the pole 60 extends. The pole 60 isprovided with a continuous strip 63 of reecting material and the stripmay be provided in various colors. The support 62 is provided with ahorizontally disposed arm 64 with the lower end of the pole 60 rotatablymounted in a socket 65 at the outer end of the arm and the pole 60 maybesecured on an inner shaft 66 by a set-screw 67. By this means the ball69 may be rotated by the wind, similar to the ball shown in Figures 1, 2and 3 and the pole 60 may be rotated by a motor through a train of gearsor both the ball and pole may be rotated by the wind or by the train ofgears, as may be desired.

`It will be understood that other modifications, within 20 the scope ofthe appended claim, may be made in the design and arrangement of theparts without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

An attention arrester comprising a post, a sleeve mounted on the upperend of the post, means for preventing accidental separation of thesleeve from the post, said post having a recess in that end thereof thatis positioned with said sleeve, a ball positioned in said recess, ashaft having a recess on one end thereof rotatably mounted in saidsleeve with the ball positioned in the recess in the end of said shaft,a collar rotatably mounted on said sleeve, a disc fixed to the upper endof said shaft, radially disposed vanes secured to and extended betweenthe collar on said sleeve, and the disc secured to said shaft, saidvanes having reflecting material thereon, and a sign mounted on thesleeve below the collar thereon.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 346,197Fagerburg July 27, 1886 983,684 Clapp Feb. 7, 1911 1,796,862 CrawfordMar. 17, 1931 1,801,274 Hinks Apr. 21, 1931 2,094,942 Frye Oct. 5, 19372,417,122 Pearson Mar. 11, 1947

